Where to carry knife when backpack has a belt?

I will always keep a solid folder (like my trusty Ritter Grip) on a dummy cord in my pocket and either use a light neck knife or stash my fixed blade in the pack. Recently, I have begun using a baldric style carry for my RC-3 that works really well.
 
I usually just put it on my regular belt under the pack belt. Normally if I have my pack on I'm not using my knife.

If I need it with my pack on I just unbuckle the belt.

Another thing is if I'm using a knife with a belt clip on the sheath then I attach it to the shoulder strap.

But like I say I usually use my knife when I stop so unbuckling the belt is no biggie.:thumbup:
 
Grapevine said:
So how did you guys solve this?
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Different ways depending on the knife and the exact configuration of the belt system.

  1. If I can thread the waist belt through a belt sheath/pouch, I will sometimes do that.
  2. You can attach a fixed knife sheath or a folder's belt pouch to the shoulder straps. Exactly how depends on the configuration. Sometimes it possible to just clip it on, or use zip ties or even duct tape.
  3. A neck sheath will ususally work, although having it swinging around your neck all day while hiking may be annoying (I never tried a neck sheathed knife, but I have carried compasses, small cameras and small binoculars that way and it does get annoying)
  4. Pocket carry if your pants pockets are available.
  5. If you are using an external frame pack, it may be possible to attach a sheath knife somewhere which is accessable while wearing the pack. Again, exactly how depends on the sheath and frame.
  6. Worse comes to worse, just carry it in one of the pockets of the pack. You will probably need to drop the pack to access it, but for most day-to-day tasks that may not be much of a problem.
Hope that helps! :cool:
 
I used to carry a seperate bag (fanny pack or small flexible camera bag) looped over my shoulder and hanging down my opposite hip. This would hold all those items that I may need in a hurry - binocs, camera, spare batteries, small flashlight, pistol, knife, car keys, map, compass, some trailmix etc. If I needed to drop my main pack and go off exploring I would just attach a water bottle to the small bag and carry the bag with me. Worked really well - everything was always handy and safe.
 
This is why I rig a dangler sheath for any blade I'll carry in the field. I like it to ride high and tight, but if a pack belt is in the way, there's not much choice but to drop it. The JRE dangler sheaths do a good job.
 
Everything I would suggest has already been said but I'll reiterate:

You can just throw everything in your pack and hope you don't forget to reattach everything to your body when you walk away from your pack. They are also not handy when you need them (like when sasquatch decides to take out all of his frustrations on you, or you need to cut a piece of cord, whichever is most likely for you in your particular area of operation).

I carry a fanny pack up front and you can attach it to the fanny pack waist strap. The fanny pack contains my PSK and rides over the top of my main packs waist belt. It only comes off when sleeping, bathing or swimming.

My favorite options are a baldric carry or a dangler. If you don't have a dedicated dangler sheath yet you can just double loop some paracord and leave it attached to your belt. Attach your sheath to the loop when you have a pack on and when you have it off too if you like a dangler. If you don't like it then you can just reattach it to your belt when you lose the pack. With either of these carry methods your fixed blade is readily accessible to live out whatever survival fantasy is running through your head at this time (it's not just me right? your guys are playing the what-if game or are dreaming of a world devoid of humans, or lost in the middle of nowhere after your plane crashes, or the zombies are coming, or something right? Right?!!)

If you're carrying a multi-tool or other folder on your belt then you can get a nylon sheath that folds fairly flat when empty and should be okay under a pack's waistbelt. When you're pack is on the knife goes in your pocket where you can still access it and when you drop the pack relocate the knife to your belt sheath.

You can also attach your folder to a piece of paracord and hang it from your belt, dangler-style, and put the knife in your pocket. This doesn't weigh your pocket down as the weight is on the belt and it leaves it readily accessible. You could just leave it dangling from your belt but having it in your pocket prevents it from flopping around.

As an aside I keep a thin belt in each of my BOBs and in my pack because I often wear climbing pants with built in belts that don't allow you to slip a sheath on. The belts are just 3/4" flat webbing with a fastex buckle that I clip around my waist sans belt loops. This allows me to attach whatever to a belt if I need too. My wife and kids rarely wear belts so they have the same belts in their BOBs and packs. The belts are actually attachment straps from REI that go for about $2 each I think, so they obviously can be used to strap things onto your pack or a tree at camp, for splints (properly padded of course so as not to cut off circulation), etc. Multi-use, negligible weight and functional.
 
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I put my small knife (Scrapyard Mudpuppy in Kydex) on my left shoulder strap, upside down for a quick cross draw. The big knife (Ranger RD7, Kuhkuri, Spyderco Forester etc.) stays on my hip. I just adjust things so they're comfortable and it works. I like sheaths like the Spec Ops style that have the knife ride kind of low, and keep the handle out of the way of straps or poking into my side.

I've also recently started carrying around a small condor pouch on my belt to keep essentials in for when I set down my pack. It has a Victorinox Locksmith, stormproof lighter, firesteel, notepad and pen, jute twine (Cordage or tinder), small specialized screwdriver bits for keeping the handles and pocket clips on my knives tight and a clif bar. By keeping this on my belt I have less occurrences of needing something and having to go back to my pack to retrieve it.
 
Sharp Eye said:
I either use a drop loop sheath or I put a small knife in my pocket and my larger knife in my pack.

Sharpshooter sheaths makes a drop loop add-on that converts many leather sheaths to a dangler style.
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High five brother.:thumbup:

The Drop Loop is a must have item. Keep in mind though, it will not work on sheaths that have thick belt tabs. It is more designed for the Sharpshooter bushcraft sheaths and others similar to it for carry. I found it no problem to notch out a couple of my other sheaths to accommodate carry though.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
I suggest a drop danging loop. I use one on my Puukko all of the time, wether I'm wearing a pack or not. I like the fact that the knife moves with your body so you're never uncomfortable. I buddy of mine carried his knife in a drop-leg sheath which he "made himself." Its just a modified Kydex Kabar sheath for... his kabar!
 
a separate belt with a dangler sheath works well. A belt thats attached to your trousers doesn't work well at all. I'd recommend suspenders anyways for longer hikes, they add plenty comfort and reduce abrasion to your waist and hips. a loose belt with a dangler sheath works well with a wide hip belt cause you can adjust it so that it rides slightly below. And you can hang other stuff to it.
 
I just put on my pack and tried a few different options. I found that one thing that worked well was using a loop of cord as a dangler and then putting the whole sheath into my back pocket. I don't usually keep my wallet in my pocket if I'm on a trip that's requiring one of my large packs, so I think this would work well. Otherwise I would probably just put a folder into my front pocket and then stash the fixed blade in my pack.
 
you can go to your local fabric store and get nylon webbing... get a foot of it or the smallest incriment they will sell you.. Then use some 550 cord and make a loop on your sheath. take the webbing and you can either double stitch it into a loop or for a more nifty solution you can get small clips to make the drop loop detachable.
 
cmdionne said:
I just put on my pack and tried a few different options. I found that one thing that worked well was using a loop of cord as a dangler and then putting the whole sheath into my back pocket. I don't usually keep my wallet in my pocket if I'm on a trip that's requiring one of my large packs, so I think this would work well. Otherwise I would probably just put a folder into my front pocket and then stash the fixed blade in my pack.
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Best tip yet! While I love those special drop loop extensions, it really is just a pretty it up extension of your sheath. A piece of cord will do just as well in this case. Lets face it, you'll look like a dork with your big back pack on no matter how sexy your sheath rig is!
 
I have to go with Kage and Andy here - as they both give good if differing advice, mostly I find i do NOT need a knife when actually doing the getting from A to B bit. I might need it for cutting up food or something, but generally i will stop, rest, ear, repaclk and carry on. Once i have reached camp then i might go bush and then do i take the fixed blade out pull on the belt and go, however if I am doing river crossings in rough weather then there is the possibility that i will lose my pack (plan for the worst), then I might move it to my body as i take the belt loop off.
When i am hunting though, or doing day trips I still like a small pack but then i attatch to me shoulder straps.
 
Large fixed blades I attach to my pack. Smaller fixed blades ride in the side tool pocket of my Carhartt pants. The dangler sheathes are a great idea also.
Scott
 
I like high-riding Kydex sheaths with TekLoks, but they are the absolute worst when you need to put on a backpack. I prefer the knife attached to me, not the pack, to lesson the chance of us being separated.

I think a drop-loop sheath is the easiest solution.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I usually just end up with a baltric carry, simpe, crossdraw and its all ways right there. Or, I just goes on the strap on the Lunada.
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gah! crazy setups. I just put the damn hip belt over the knife. Haven't really had any rubbing problems on trips with many miles each day.

under the belt
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Sometimes it may come out under it, but it never bothered me I guess:
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If I have a high kydex riding sheath or something like that, I usually just clip it to the front or something just to get it out of the way.
 
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